Singapore: Stock index drops below support level

The Singaporean stock market has been in the worst situation since June 2012, with the Strait Times Index (STI) falling below the support 2,800-point level on September 28 and continuing to decline in early trades on September 29.

At 9 am on September 29, the STI opened at 2,754.35 points, down 37.57 points or 1.35 percent compared to the market’s close the day before.

About 65.8 million shares worth 78.2 million SGD (54.7 million USD) changed hands. However, those who gained outnumbered losers 20 to 141.

Top stocks traded by value opened lower, including DBS, ST Engineering, Singtel, UOB and OCBC.

On September 28, the STI ended its session with 40.72 points lower, or 1.4 percent, at 2,791.92.
Within the five months since April, the STI has dropped 747 points or 21 percent, taking the benchmark’s year-to-date loss to 17 percent.

According to experts, the decline echoed sell-offs in the US and Europe along with falling commodity prices in global market.

Furthermore, uncertainty on the US base rate policy and worries over a slowing Chinese economy are plaguing the Singaporean market.-VNA